By james art
Jennifer Lopez introduced Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at a rally in Las Vegas on Thursday night (October 31), urging the audience to take a hard look at the stark differences between the incumbent vice president and twice-impeached former President Donald Trump.
“At Madison Square Garden, he reminded us who he really is and how he really feels,” Lopez said of Trump in reference to his rally at MSG on Sunday, in which the comedian told a series of racist and sexist jokes, including one in which he calls Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”
“It wasn’t just Puerto Ricans who were offended that day, right? It was every Latino in this country, it was humanity and anyone of decent character,” said Lopez, who endorsed Harris this week. The offensive comment from the comedian, who also made a nasty joke about the OJ Simpson murders involving Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, prompted more than a dozen other inaugural speakers to fire up the crowd for Trump with equally offensive comments. One called the Democrats “degenerates … lowlifes [and] Jew-haters,” while fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson deliberately twisted Harris’ legacy by calling her “the first Malaysian, low-IQ, ex-California prosecutor to ever be elected president.”
More specifically, the offense in Puerto Rico led to Harris being endorsed by Lopez, as well as local PRs Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin and Luis Fonsi. Nicky Jam, who was born in Massachusetts to a father born in PR, withdrew his previous endorsement of Trump to join the Harris/Waltz campaign amid a wave of anger over the slander about the US territory, whose 3.2 million residents are US citizens but who cannot vote in elections. Lopez stressed that she wasn’t on stage supporting Harris at the event in the crucial swing state “to smash somebody or bring them down.”
But just days before the election on Tuesday (November 5), the singer explained: “I know how it feels and I wouldn’t do it to my worst enemy or even when I’m facing the biggest adversary that I think America has ever had internally had,” in reference to convicted felon Trump, who has vowed to use the engines of presidential power to exact revenge on his political enemies if re-elected. “But throughout Kamala Harris’ career, she has proven to us who she is. She has shown up for us every day, for the people. And it’s time for us to show up for her.”
Lopez noted that her parents were born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York before she was born, saying, “We are Americans. I am a mother. I am a sister. I am an actor and entertainer and I like Hollywood endings. I love it when the good guy, or in this case the good girl, wins. And with an understanding of our past and faith in our future, I will proudly vote for Kamala Harris for President of the United States.
She also added, “You can’t even spell American without ‘Rican.’
Pollsters continue to call the race between Harris and former reality TV host Trump a toss-up, which may also explain why Harris invited Lopez and the Mexican rock band Maná — who performed at Thursday’s rally — to join her in a state where Latinos represent about 30% of the population; nationwide, approximately 36.2 million Latinos are eligible to vote this year. Earlier in the day, Los Tigres del Norte participated in a Harris rally in Phoenix.
As Lopez and Harris encouraged people to vote, Trump pulled a stunt in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in which he dressed as a garbage man in an orange vest and drove around the airport tarmac in a Trump-branded garbage truck. His campaign said it was trying to draw attention to a video of President Biden saying “the only trash I see floating around is his supporter,” which the White House later clarified was a reference to others Trump rally speakers.
“His demonization of Hispanics is unconscionable and un-American. It’s completely at odds with everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been,” Biden added.
Check out video and photos of Lopez in the Harris campaign below.